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Graphic: Animal death, Body horror, Child abuse, Death, Infidelity, Physical abuse, Sexism, Blood, Death of parent
Moderate: Fatphobia, Infertility, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Murder, Pregnancy, Colonisation
For these reasons, Like Water For Chocolate has been on my to-read list for over a decade. Maybe this long lead time resulted in my expectations being too high, because I was very disappointed in this novel.
I loved the fairytale-like lyricism and outlandish surrealism of the grand magical moments. I didn't even mind the thinness of the novel's premise regarding the tyrannical monstrosity of Mama Elena, the archetypal wicked witch/evil stepmother despite being the biological parent of Tita, the MC. Their relationship and her cruelty she inflicted on her family was the heart of the novel for me, and I think that the novel really went off the rails after
What I struggled with was the limpness of Tita's character, and the febrile hollowness of the love story between her and Pedro. While the passivity of Tita serves the plot, and is required for the emotional outbursts of magic in her cooking to carry any weight, it makes her incapable of action to the point of unlikeability.
Similarly, while the romance between her and Pedro is heightened and inflamed, at no point are we shown *why* these two are in love with each other beyond their unresolved physical attraction towards each other. Pedro's character is weak and spineless as several other characters make a point of lampshading, and there is no explanation as to why Tita would remain in love with him once this weakness is revealed to her.
The scene in which their love is
Although I was grateful that the book was quite short, I found the huge time jump annoying and gratuitous. I also didn't understand what the resolution of this book was trying to say. Was it a happy ending, or a tragedy? Is the power of true love inevitable? Or was it just a rushed resolution that shoehorned in the Chekhov's gun of an extended proverb that was introduced for no reason halfway through the book? (This. It was this.)
In summary, I do not understand why this is such a lauded example of the magical realism genre from a female Latinx perspective when Isabel Allende is RIGHT THERE.
Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Animal death, Bullying, Child abuse, Child death, Confinement, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Infertility, Infidelity, Misogyny, Rape, Sexism, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic relationship, Blood, Kidnapping, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, Pregnancy, Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, Abandonment, War, Injury/Injury detail
Graphic: Child abuse, Emotional abuse, Infertility, Rape, Death of parent, Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Emotional abuse
Minor: Animal death, Child death, Death, Fatphobia, Infertility, Sexual assault, Violence, Death of parent, Pregnancy, Fire/Fire injury, Alcohol, War
Moderate: Body shaming, Bullying, Child abuse, Child death, Death, Emotional abuse, Fatphobia, Gun violence, Infertility, Infidelity, Misogyny, Racism, Rape, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Toxic relationship, Medical content, Grief, Death of parent, Pregnancy, Fire/Fire injury, Colonisation
Minor: Animal death, Forced institutionalization
Tita, la menor, está destinada a cuidar de ella por el resto de su vida. Pero Tita quiere casarse con Pedro.
Creando problemas innecesarios, la matriarca Elena, hace a todos miserables.
El uso de la "magia" con la comida y las emociones es muy interesante.
Es un libro muy entretenido, pero las decisiones de los personajes lo vuelven frustrante en ratos. Me alegra haberlo leído, lo disfruté, pero no lo volvería a leer.
Al no ser una trama completamente linear (muchos recuerdos y flashbacks) es un poco dificil ver el objetivo o la meta de los personajes en un determinado punto.
Los personajes tienen sus fallas, de más incluso. Tal vez faltó verlos más tiempo resaltando sus lados positivos, desarrollando sus personalidades, para así encariñarse con ellos realmente.
El único personaje con el que pude encariñarme fue
Casi todos los trigger warnings fueron moderados o menores (se cuentan con metáforas o de paso en una o dos oraciones), excepto la
Graphic: Animal death, Cursing, Death, Emotional abuse, Fatphobia, Infidelity, Blood, Grief, Fire/Fire injury
Moderate: Child abuse, Gun violence, Infertility, War, Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Child death, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Racism, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Suicide, Forced institutionalization, Vomit, Kidnapping, Pregnancy, Alcohol
Graphic: Death, Grief, Death of parent, Pregnancy
Moderate: Animal death, Child abuse, Child death, Infertility, Mental illness, Sexual content, Toxic relationship, Violence, War
Minor: Racism, Sexual assault, Forced institutionalization
Moderate: Infidelity, Sexual content, Pregnancy
Minor: Emotional abuse, Infertility, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Rape, Grief, Fire/Fire injury
Quiero empezar con lo obvio: La Mamá Elena es la villana principal de este cuento. Es una madre egoísta, narcisista, y abusiva. A causa de ella, dos de sus tres hijas tuvieron que pasar su adultez en desprecio y miseria, también destruyó la relación entre las hermanas. Me parecía interesante ver el desarrollo de Rosaura, y cómo fue convirtiéndose en su madre. Igual de egoísta, igual de narcisista y abusiva
Para terminar, quiero notar que este libro tiene momentos muy… sensuales, digamos. Más de una vez, las personas se ponen cachondas después de comer la comida de Tita (la comida de Tita literally made Gertudis’ pussy throb).
¿Que fue creativo? Sí. ¿Que fue ridículo y un poco perturbador? También que sí. ¿Que si me gustó este libro? Sí. ¿Que me lo voy a guardar? Quizás. ¿Que lo recomiendo? Sí, sin duda.
Graphic: Emotional abuse, Infidelity, Sexual content, Vomit, Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Child abuse, Child death, Chronic illness, Infertility, Racism, Sexism, Medical content, Pregnancy
Minor: Body shaming, Cancer, Rape, War